pantryslut

Seafood CSA drop was Saturday; we got six small fillets of black cod. I marinated them in miso and sake for two days and then broiled them. And that was an excellent choice. The browned (caramelized) ends of the fillets were particularly delicious. I did half skin-side up and half skin-side down, and thus I learned to broil them skin side down next time.

The only downside: kids didn't like the fish. But they tried it!

We did have a bit of leftover fish, so I think we will have cross-cultural fish fried rice on Friday.

This is the recipe for the red beans and rice I made today. I accidentally doubled all the seasonings of the recipe I was working from b/c I forgot I was making half a batch. They turned out ridiculously delicious.

1 cup dry small red beans
3 bay leaves
1/2 pound slab bacon or smoked ham, diced
1/4-1/2 pound andouille sausage, diced
2 leeks, diced (or 1 small onion -- it's leek season here)
1 teaspoon cayenne
6 cloves garlic, chopped (I used a mixture of cloves and green garlic stems)
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1/4 cup red wine or cider vinegar
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1-2 teaspoons salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cooked rice

Soak the beans overnight and drain.

Combine the beans, bay leaves, and about 8 cups of water -- enough to cover to a depth of one inch -- in a heavy stockpot. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce to a simmer.

Meanwhile, brown the sausage and bacon in a heavy skillet for 4-5 minutes. (If you are using onion instead of leeks, add here and cook for 5 minutes more.) Add cayenne, garlic, leeks, nystardm thyme, salt and pepper and saute for 5-8 more minutes. Scrape into the stockpot with the beans. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and add this to the beans.

Stir and simmer the entire mixture slowly, uncovered, for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until the beans are soft enough to mash easily with a wooden spoon. Add more liquid if the beans become dry.

Notes: use two pans next time. Put a double layer of noodles on the bottom.

Italian sausage next time too?

Erik and I discussed adding zucchini to the veggies sometime.


1 package lasagna noodles -- yes I did precook them, partially.

1 jar marinara sauce
1 small jar tomato paste
1 jar whole tomatoes, cut up
any herbs and spices you want to use -- in this case, a bit of dried Italian herb blend I had a sample of
salt and pepper

Combine these together and keep warm on the stove.

mushrooms, diced
fresh spinach, chopped
garlic, minced
salt and pepper

Saute the garlic, then the mushrooms until their moisture is gone, then the spinach until its moisture is gone, too.

1 container ricotta, and make it good
3/4 pound mozzarella, more or less
1/2 cup or so grated parmesan
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Combine these together.

Assemble!

Mom advises putting a very thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan to protect sticking. After that, it went like this: noodles, cheese mix, veggie mix, sauce. Top with more sauce.

Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes. Let stand out of the oven for 10 minutes before serving.

This makes a really loose, saucy lasagna, but I like it that way. Just don't be surprised and/or modify accordingly.

Tonight for dinner we had roast vegetables with peanut sauce over brown rice. I followed Edward Espee Brown and made a coconut-milk satay sauce, and I also tossed the roast veggies with curry powder and soy sauce and stuff, so there were several layers of flavor. I deviated from Brown by using winter vegetables instead of summer ones, but I don't think he'd mind: parsnips, turnips, carrots, and broccoli.

It was very simple and very tasty, but G. suggests a variation that I agree must be attempted: serve it over coconut rice instead. Mmmm.

So the pizza question wasn't for tonight, as you can tell by this post. I took two recipes and smashed them together, so I'm recording the results here for posterity. This is a good one for zucchini season. Measurements are approximate.

12 strips of bacon
1 large red onion, about a cup diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup white wine
6 small zucchini, diced large--about 2-3 cups
3-4 medium tomatoes, diced large--about 2 cups
a small handful of fresh marjoram leaves, chopped
a small handful of fresh basil leaves, shredded
4 oz. chevre, diced
salt and pepper
8 oz. dried pasta of your choice, cooked--I used gemelli

Cook the bacon until brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels and chop.

Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat. Saute the onions for about 2 minutes, then add the garlic and saute a minute longer. Add the zucchini and the wine and cook until the wine is reduced by half and the zucchini begins to look cooked. Add the tomatoes and herbs and cook until heated through. Turn off the heat. Add salt and pepper and the cooked pasta, then the chevre. Toss and serve.

I don't know if it really needed the chevre, to be honest, but it was nice.

Now all I need is a use for a whole lot of shrimp and mushroom stock :)

In related news, the soup tonight was delicious. I basically winged a simple vegetable soup: saute onions, then carrots, then green beans, fresh tomatoes, zucchini. Add a little tomato paste for body, and some chicken stock. Cook for a while. Salt and pepper. Add a big dab of pesto and some parmesan at the end, and maybe some vinegar and/or hot sauce, just a splash to perk things up.

Oh, and about those blueberries. For a while it seemed that we would never be able to eat them up, and I prepared my backup plan, as regular readers of this journal were privy to.

And then, all of the sudden, between the babies and G.'s morning cereal, we didn't have enough for any single recipe left. So I am sorry that I cannot report What I Did with the Blueberries, because it turns out all we did was eat 'em out of hand.

Dinner last night was OK, but the next time I make black cod I think I am going to stir-fry it with black bean sauce.

The lads requested I preserve tonight's dinner recipe, so here it is.

Put on a big pot of salted water on to boil.

Meanwhile, saute two leeks in 2-3 Tablespoons of butter until soft. Add as many morels, rinsed and sliced into strips, as you can afford. Cook until soft. Sprinkle on a little chopped fresh thyme and cook for a minute more to release the aroma. Add about a half cup of creme fraiche. Thin with a little milk if needed, and warm through.

When the water is boiling, cook 1/2 lb. capellini pasta. Just before it's finished (and it cooks fast!), throw in two handfuls of frozen peas (I bet fresh would work just the same). Bring back to a boil and drain.

Put the pasta in the skillet with the sauce and combine well. Season with salt and pepper. Top each serving with a little grated parmesan if you like. Eat.

1. I cooked the boar a la Anthony Bourdain, per nitouche's suggestion -- a French boar stew, basically -- and it was divine.

2. I ended up hard-boiling most of my first set of pullet eggs. They were also fantastic. I will be getting more.